RUSSIA DESIGNATES VOA, 8 OTHERS MEDIA OUTFITS AS FOREIGN AGENTS

MOSCOW, Russia – Ministry of Justice in Russia has designated nine media outlets as foreign agents. They affected outfits are Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Other media included in the list are Current Time TV, Tatar-Bashkir service of RFE/RL and several projects of Radio Liberty including Factograf, Sibir.Realii, IdeLRealia, Kavkaz.Realii, and Krym.Realii.

In December 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Ministry of Justice to maintain registry of foreign media designated as “foreign agents”, after the President signed a bill on “foreign agent” label for foreign media into law.

The Russian law adopted in November 2012 requires that all NGOs engaged in political activity and receiving foreign funding register as “foreign agents”.